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Album reviews: Maverick Sabre, Mark Lanegan Band, Darren Hayman and The Muppets
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MAVERICK SABRE
LONELY ARE THE BRAVE
****
THERE have been few openings for male British soul singers in recent years, with the genre dominated by the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse and Duffy. But Michael Stafford, the young London-Irish singer-cum-rapper also known as Maverick Sabre, makes a valiant pitch for audience share with his debut album.
Though he’s inclined to scat a little too much like Winehouse at points, he has the neccessary grit in his voice to carry off tales of heartbreak and injustice. His best songs – I Need, No One, I Use To Have It All – ache with hurt, bewilderment and longing. Elsewhere he rails against social inequality in Open Your Eyes and the shooting of an unarmed man by police in Shooting The Stars and makes a brave – if slightly misguided – stab at the Sam Cooke classic A Change is Gonna Come.
Skip the lesser material – which leans towards plodding 90s acid jazz – and this is a promising addition to Britain’s soulful ranks.
MARK LANEGAN BAND
BLUES FUNERAL
***
ONCE the singer in grunge nearly-men the Screaming Trees – a kid of Pearl Jam it was OK to like – Mark Lanegan has latterly become the go-to guy for indie chanteuses and electronic groups seeking to add a sense of menace to their records.
His own band’s recording embellishes a basic electric blues template with synth parts and programmed beats but it’s more effectively growly when he plays it straight in numbers such as Phantasmagoria Blues.
The album really comes alive when Lanegan cuts loose in the Led Zeppelin-like rockers Riot in My House and Quiver Syndrome, though he also does a mean Johnny Cash impression in the gravel-voiced country blues lament Deep Black Vanishing Train.
DARREN HAYMAN
JANUARY SONGS
****
FORMER Hefner singer Darren Hayman’s latest album was born of frustration. “Even in this age of downloads I can still get frustrated about how long it takes to release records,” he said. “I wanted to make something instantly and, without any time for editing or revision, release it and make it permanent.”
Such strict deadlines seem to have actually brought out the best in him – the woodwind ballad We’re Staying In, the wistful Old Man Hands (with trumpeter Terry Edwards), and the stomping Britain’s in Bloom (with Robert Rotifer) are among the best songs the 41-year-old bard of Brentwood has yet written.
Pals such as Elizabeth Morris, Jack Hayter and Valentine Leys take lead vocals on other songs, and Peter Astor, of the under-rated Weather Prophets, makes a welcome guest appearance on the bluegrass flavoured Forest Blues.
All this – and some unique hand-drawn artwork on every copy – makes this a very fine package.
THE MUPPETS
OST
***
The new Muppets film gets a glowing review elsewhere in scene, but does the soundtrack album that accompanies it deserve similar plaudits?
Featuring a mix of original songs and classic fan favourites, it focuses on the lively numbers composed for the film by Bret McKenzie – one half of New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords – while also offering fun Muppetised covers of the likes of Starship’s We Built This City, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Cee-Lo Green’s Forget You and spruced up versions of the Muppet Show Theme and Mah Na Mah Na.
Obviously, being a ‘novelty’ album, it’s a given that that the soundtrack will ultimately end up gathering dust. That said, I’ve still got fond memories of early Muppet classics Halfway Down The Stairs and Bein’ Green, although I’m not sure, entertaining though new songs like Life’s A Happy Song and Man Or Muppet? are, that they’ll enjoy the same longevity.
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